Most of the various boards and leadership groups in the synod meet during the fall, and this year is no exception. Since the synod convention in July made some important decisions, those groups have already been busy discussing the steps that they will need to take to implement those decisions and to make plans for the coming year.

The Committee on Interchurch Relations (CICR) met last week to discuss issues relating to our sister church bodies throughout the world. They heard of both the challenges facing these small confessional Lutheran church bodies in fellowship with WELS as well as the blessings that God is giving to them as they carry out their important work. The CICR also met with the doctrinal committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod to discuss matters of mutual interest and concern.

The Boards for World and Home Missions both met within the last two weeks. Both boards are working diligently to make adjustments after the recent budget reductions and to make plans once again to begin expanding our work of planting new missions in the United States and overseas. The opportunities for mission work have not diminished, and the dedicated members of these boards are praying that God will make the resources available to continue to proclaim the gospel in more locations.

The governing boards of our ministerial education schools have all held their fall meetings; the Board for Ministerial Education will also meet in the coming weeks. The schools continue to carry out their single purpose of preparing and training workers to serve as pastors, teachers, and staff ministers in the synod. At a time when most Christian denominations are having difficulty in recruiting and training church workers, our ministerial education system continues to provide our synod with an adequate number of well-trained future workers.

A number of meetings have taken place with representatives of the entities that comprised Parish Services. The synod convention made significant changes to this area of ministry by eliminating the Board for Parish Services and placing the various commissions (Evangelism, Parish Schools, Parish Assistance, Youth Discipleship, Adult Discipleship, Worship, and Special Ministries) under the oversight of the Conference of Presidents. The Conference of Presidents will determine the structure and staffing of the ministries of Parish Services at its meeting in mid-October.

The Synodical Council will meet in early November. It will direct its attention to a number of convention resolutions and plan ways in which those resolutions will be carried out. One important resolution directed the Synodical Council to develop a long-range, comprehensive plan for the synod that will guide our activities and efforts during the next 5-10 years. This planning will begin in earnest at the November meeting.

Nearly every other board or committee of the synod will be meeting during these fall months. Meetings may not sound all that exciting in themselves. But each of the meetings this fall will discuss and make decisions about the ways in which the synod's work of preserving and proclaiming the gospel is carried out. Please ask God to bless those who serve on these boards and committees, and ask him to guide them in the work that they do.

Serving in Christ,
Mark Schroeder